FL Health Centers Awarded $8.3M

Sixteen community health centers in Florida will share more than $8.3 million in new grants -- enough to care for about 73,000 new patients -- from the Affordable Care Act, federal health officials announced today.

More than half of the grants are for amounts exceeding $500,000.

The Florida awards are part of a nationwide package of $150 million in "New Access Point" grants to 236 centers. They were announced by officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

“We are thrilled to be able to provide additional Affordable Care Act resources to health centers to establish new sites,” said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield. “With these new funds, health centers will provide more individuals and families across the country with access to high quality affordable health care.”

The health center network has been described as an important component in meeting demand for primary care in 2014, when millions of uninsured people who don't have a family doctor will gain coverage under the health law.

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About 160 new people will be hired at dozens of community health centers around the state to help uninsured Floridians sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, according to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.

Even though Florida officials tried to block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at every turn over the past three years, the state will gain millions in grants and hundreds of new jobs this year from its implementation.

A shortage of primary care doctors exists across much of Florida, not just in small, rural counties, the Associated Press reports. According to federal data, communities in Miami, Tampa and Orlando don’t have enough primary care physicians, either.